Detroit Lions must draft well to find success

Ezekiel Ansah, from Brigham Young, stands with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, left, and Barry Sanders after being selected fifth overall by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

All the Lions need to do next week in the NFL draft, is to equal or surpass the success they had a year ago.

They drafted three (remember that number) full-time starters in defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, right guard Larry Warford and punter Sam Martin. They also signed undrafted rookie LaAdrian Waddle who started at right tackle.

Also, second-round pick Darius Slay started four games while rookie tight end Joe Fauria, also signed as an undrafted free agent, started two.

“Really, if you look at the top teams in the league the teams that are consistently winning in the National Football League, they’re the teams that are drafting well,’’ McShay said. “They’re not giving up picks, they’re not going three years without a first- or second-round pick like Carolina did. They’re not jeopardizing nine first- or second-round picks like Washington did over a seven- or eight-year span. Those are the teams that bounce up and down and they really have to rely so much on free agency they wind up overpaying.’’

If the Lions can get another three or four starters from their eight picks next week, they should be on their way to the playoffs.

“The magic number is three,’’ McShay said. “If every year you draft three solid or great starters, you can replace your roster and keep it rolling. The teams that have four are usually the teams in the playoffs just about every single year.’’

This is exactly why the NFL draft is so essential to the success of a team.

It’s why the Lions have been playing catch-up after eight lousy drafts by Matt Millen. When he left, the cupboard was bare.

While it’s more fun to talk about the first-round pick, rounds two through seven are crucial too.

Despite all the studying by all 32 teams, gems can be found in later rounds. Look at Waddle and Fauria from last year. We all know that Michigan’s Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick and has still managed to find great success.

In his latest mock draft, McShay has the Lions drafting tight end Eric Ebron (North Carolina) with the 10th overall pick. The analyst doesn’t think the defensive backs are worthy of going No. 10. And he dug up an interesting statistic that the Lions have not drafted a defensive back in the first round in 15 years.

He likes Darqueze Dennard (Michigan State) as the best cornerback available with Justin Gilbert and Kyle Fuller tied for second.

Since the Lions seem infatuated with wide receiver Sammy Watkins, there’s been plenty of speculation that they will try to move up.

It’s one big chess game.

General manager Martin Mayhew and his scouting staff have been sequestered for weeks, going over every draft possibility. They still don’t know who they will pick in the first round or any round, it just depends on the moves of the 31 other general managers.

Mayhew’s first-round picks have been pretty much on the money — Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh, Brandon Pettigrew, Nick Fairley, Riley Reiff, Ziggy Ansah and Jahvid Best. All started last season except for Best who saw his career end prematurely due to concussions.

Three of his four fifth-round picks — Tahir Whitehead, Chris Greenwood and Sam Martin — could play significant roles this season.

From the eight picks in the 2012 draft, seven of the eight picks are still on the roster with Ronnell Lewis (fourth round) as the exception.

After an off draft in 2011 (only Nick Fairley and Mikel Leshoure remain), Mayhew has seemed to hit his draft stride.

If the Lions want to “win and win now” which is their mantra these days, Mayhew has to have a stellar draft starting Thursday, May 8.

About the Author

Paula Pasche is a longtime sports writer for The Oakland Press and blogs at http://oplions.blogspot.com/. Author of book, "100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." Follow on Tout and Twitter @paulapasche. Reach the author at paula.pasche@oakpress.com
or follow Paula on Twitter: @PaulaPasche.